Eyeglass Headphones

ABSTRACT

An eyeglass headphone with a frame that is constructed and arranged to be carried by the head of a wearer, the frame comprising a bridge that is adapted to be supported by the wearer&#39;s nose, and a left temple and a right temple that extend rearwardly from the bridge, toward the left and right ears of the wearer, respectively, and a dipole loudspeaker built into the frame, where the dipole loudspeaker comprises a driver that emits front-side acoustic radiation from its front side, and emits rear-side acoustic radiation from its rear side. The frame comprises at least first and second sound-emitting openings, wherein the first sound-emitting opening is constructed and arranged to emit front-side acoustic radiation and the second sound-emitting opening is constructed and arranged to emit rear-side acoustic radiation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/414,678, filed on May 16, 2019, which itself isa continuation of and claimed priority of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/884,924, filed on Jan. 31, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,555,071,issued on Feb. 4, 2020.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to headphones built into eyeglasses.

Off-ear headphones produce sound using an acoustic driver that is spacedfrom the ear. Such headphones should ideally deliver high-quality soundto the ears at desired volumes, without spilling too much sound to theenvironment.

SUMMARY

All examples and features mentioned below can be combined in anytechnically possible way.

In one aspect, an eyeglass headphone includes a frame that isconstructed and arranged to be carried by the head of a wearer, theframe comprising a bridge that is adapted to be supported by thewearer's nose, and a left temple and a right temple that extendrearwardly from the bridge, toward the left and right ears of thewearer, respectively, and a dipole loudspeaker built into the frame,where the dipole loudspeaker comprises a driver that emits front-sideacoustic radiation from its front side, and emits rear-side acousticradiation from its rear side. The frame comprises at least first andsecond sound-emitting openings, wherein the first sound-emitting openingis constructed and arranged to emit front-side acoustic radiation fromthe frame, and the second sound-emitting opening is constructed andarranged to emit rear-side acoustic radiation from the frame.

Embodiments may include one of the following features, or anycombination thereof. The frame may further comprise a thirdsound-emitting opening that is constructed and arranged to emitrear-side acoustic radiation from the frame. The distance betweenopenings may define an effective length of the dipole loudspeaker. Theeffective length may be frequency dependent. The effective dipole lengthmay be larger at lower frequencies than it is at higher frequencies. Theloudspeaker may comprise a port that leads to one of the second andthird sound-emitting openings, wherein an acoustic impedance of the portrises with frequency, so that the effective dipole length is larger atlower frequencies than it is at higher frequencies

Embodiments may include one of the above and/or below features, or anycombination thereof. The frame may further comprise a first acousticcavity that receives the front-side acoustic radiation. The firstsound-emitting opening may be acoustically coupled to the first acousticcavity, to emit from the frame radiation from the first acoustic cavity.The frame may further comprise a third sound-emitting opening that isconstructed and arranged to emit from the frame radiation from the firstacoustic cavity. The third sound-emitting opening and the firstsound-emitting opening may each have an acoustic impedance, and the twoacoustic impedances may be different from each other. The frame mayfurther comprise a second acoustic cavity that receives the rear-sideacoustic radiation. The second sound-emitting opening may beacoustically coupled to the second acoustic cavity, to emit from theframe radiation from the second acoustic cavity.

Embodiments may include one of the above and/or below features, or anycombination thereof. The eyeglass headphones may further compriseelectronic circuitry coupled to the frame and that is arranged towirelessly transmit or receive audio signals that are played by thedipole loudspeaker. The electronic circuitry may comprise an antennabuilt into a temple. The electronic circuitry may comprise separateelectronics in each temple, and two antennas, one antenna built intoeach of the temples and electrically coupled to the electronics in thattemple. The antennas may be in the temples proximate the bridge.

Embodiments may include one of the above and/or below features, or anycombination thereof. The eyeglass headphones may further comprise amicrophone carried by a temple and arranged to directly face the head.The one of the first and second sound-emitting openings may be locatedin front of an ear of the wearer. The other of the first and secondsound-emitting openings may also be located in front of the ear of thewearer, and may be farther from the ear canal opening than is the one ofthe first and second sound-emitting openings. The one of the first andsecond sound-emitting openings may be located a first distance from andalong a first axis from the opening of the ear canal, and the first andsecond sound-emitting openings may be located a second distance from oneanother along a second axis that intersects the first axis. The firstand second axes may not be coincidental, and an angle between the firstaxis and the second axis may be no more than about 90 degrees. The firstdistance may be no more than about 35 mm.

In another aspect, an eyeglass headphone includes a frame that isconstructed and arranged to be carried by the head of a wearer, theframe comprising a bridge that is adapted to be supported by thewearer's nose, and a left temple and a right temple that extendrearwardly from the bridge, toward the left and right ears of thewearer, respectively. Dipole loudspeakers are built into each of thetemples. The dipole loudspeakers comprise a driver that emits front-sideacoustic radiation from its front side, and emits rear-side acousticradiation from its rear side. The temple comprises at least first,second, and third sound-emitting openings, wherein the firstsound-emitting opening is located in front of an ear of the wearer andis constructed and arranged to emit front-side acoustic radiation fromthe temple, and wherein the second sound-emitting opening is alsolocated in front of the ear of the wearer and is farther from the earcanal opening than is the first sound-emitting opening, and wherein thesecond and third sound-emitting openings are constructed and arranged toemit rear-side acoustic radiation from the temple, wherein a distancebetween openings defines an effective length of the dipole loudspeaker,and wherein the effective length is frequency dependent where theeffective dipole length is larger at lower frequencies than it is athigher frequencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is schematic cross-sectional view of a dipole loudspeaker foreyeglass headphones.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary plot illustrating an intermodulation spectrum ofa dipole loudspeaker of the eyeglass headphones.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary plot illustrating aspects of afrequency-dependent dipole length for a dipole loudspeaker of theeyeglass headphones.

FIG. 4A is a representation of distances and angles for a dipoleloudspeaker of the eyeglass headphones.

FIG. 4B is an exemplary plot illustrating an effect of the dipole lengthand a varied dipole alignment angle for the dipole loudspeakerrepresented by FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of electronics, anantenna, and a dipole loudspeaker in one temple of eyeglass headphones.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of eyeglass headphones.

FIG. 7 is a front, perspective view of eyeglass headphones.

FIG. 8A is a partial side view of part of the right temple of theeyeglass headphones of FIG. 7.

FIG. 8B is a view similar to that of FIG. 8A, but including the acousticdriver and showing a cover removed from the temple.

FIG. 9 is a cross-section taken along line 9-9, FIG. 8A, but includingthe driver shown in FIG. 8B.

FIG. 10 is an exploded rear perspective view of the bridge and righttemple of the eyeglass headphones of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Off-ear headphones produce sound using an acoustic driver that is spacedfrom the ear. Such headphones should ideally deliver high-quality soundto the ears at desired volumes, without spilling too much sound to theenvironment. Eyeglass headphones can be accomplished with one or moredipole loudspeakers built into the eyeglass frame. Dipole loudspeakersproduce out of phase sound from opposite sides of the loudspeaker'sacoustic driver. The sound can be emitted from openings or vents in theeyeglass frame. If one vent is close to an ear and the other vent isfarther from the ear, quality sound can be delivered to the ear withminimal spillage. Examples of off-ear headphones with dipoleloudspeakers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,794,676 and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/375,119, filed on Dec. 11, 2016; the disclosuresof this patent and this patent application are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Elements of figures are shown and described as discrete elements in ablock diagram. These may be implemented as one or more of analogcircuitry or digital circuitry. Alternatively, or additionally, they maybe implemented with one or more microprocessors executing softwareinstructions. The software instructions can include digital signalprocessing instructions. Operations may be performed by analog circuitryor by a microprocessor executing software that performs the equivalentof the analog operation. Signal lines may be implemented as discreteanalog or digital signal lines, as a discrete digital signal line withappropriate signal processing that is able to process separate signals,and/or as elements of a wireless communication system.

When processes are represented or implied in the block diagram, thesteps may be performed by one element or a plurality of elements. Thesteps may be performed together or at different times. The elements thatperform the activities may be physically the same or proximate oneanother, or may be physically separate. One element may perform theactions of more than one block. Audio signals may be encoded or not, andmay be transmitted in either digital or analog form. Conventional audiosignal processing equipment and operations are in some cases omittedfrom the drawing.

A dipole loudspeaker for the eyeglass headphones includes an acousticdriver or radiator that emits front-side acoustic radiation from itsfront side, and emits rear-side acoustic radiation to its rear side. Thedipole loudspeaker is built into the frame of the eyeglasses. A housingdirects the front-side acoustic radiation and a housing directs therear-side acoustic radiation. A plurality of sound-conducting vents(openings) in the housing allow sound to leave the housing. Openings inthe eyeglass frame can be aligned with these vents, so that the soundalso leaves the frame. A distance between the sound-conducting openingsdefines an effective length of an acoustic dipole of the loudspeaker.The effective length may be considered to be the distance between thetwo openings that contribute most to the emitted radiation at anyparticular frequency. The housing and its openings can be constructedand arranged such that the effective dipole length is frequencydependent. The loudspeaker dipole transducer is able to achieve agreater ratio of sound pressure delivered to the ear to spilled sound,as compared to an off-ear headphone not having this feature.

A headphone refers to a device that typically fits around, on, or in anear and that radiates acoustic energy into the ear canal. Thisdisclosure describes a type of headphone that sits near, but does notblock the ear, referred to as an off-ear headphone. Headphones aresometimes referred to as earphones, earpieces, headsets, earbuds, orsport headphones, and can be wired or wireless. A headphone includes anacoustic transducer driver to transduce audio signals to acousticenergy. While some of the figures and descriptions following show asingle loudspeaker, a headphone may be a single stand-alone unit or oneof a pair of headphones (each including at least one acoustic driver),one arranged to provide sound to each ear. A headphone may be connectedmechanically to another headphone, for example by the eyeglass frame orby another structure, and/or by leads that conduct audio signals to anacoustic driver in the headphone. A headphone may include components forwirelessly receiving audio signals. A headphone may include componentsof an active noise reduction (ANR) system. Headphones may also includeother functionality, such as a microphone.

Exemplary dipole loudspeaker 10 for the present eyeglass headphones isdepicted in FIG. 1, which is a schematic longitudinal cross-section.Loudspeaker 10 includes acoustic radiator 14 that is located withinhousing 12. Housing 12 is closed, or essentially closed, except for anumber of sound-emitting openings. The housing and its openings areconstructed and arranged to achieve a desired sound pressure level (SPL)delivery to a particular location, while minimizing sound that isspilled to the environment. These results make loudspeaker 10 aneffective off-ear headphone.

Housing 12 defines an acoustic radiator front volume or cavity 16, andan acoustic radiator rear volume or cavity 18. Acoustic radiator 14radiates sound pressure into both volume 16 and volume 18, the soundradiated into the two different volumes being out of phase. Housing 12thus directs both the front side acoustic radiation and the rear sideacoustic radiation. Housing 12 comprises four or more openings in thisnon-limiting example. Front side opening or vent 20 is optionallycovered by a screen 22 to help keep out debris and moisture. Screen 22can in one non-limiting example be a 6 mks Rayl screen. Rear sideopening or vent 28 is covered by a screen 30 to help keep out debris andmoisture, such as a 46 mks Rayl polymer screen made by Saati AmericasCorp., with a location in Fountain Inn, S.C., USA. Rear port opening 32is located at the distal end of port (i.e., acoustic transmission line)34, and may also be covered by a screen (not shown) to help keep outdebris and moisture. An acoustic transmission line is a duct that isadapted to transmit sound pressure, such as a port or an acousticwaveguide. A port and a waveguide typically have acoustic mass. Secondrear opening 36 covered by a resistive screen 38 is an optional elementthat can be included to damp standing waves in port 34, as is known inthe art. Without screened opening 36, at the frequency where the portlength equals half the wavelength, the impedance to drive the port isvery low, which would cause air to escape through the port rather thanscreened opening 28. When screened opening 36 is included the distancesalong port 34 may be broken down into a first distance from the entranceof port 34 to opening 36, and a second distance from opening 36 toopening 32. In a general sense, sound travels along axis 42 from vent 20to ear canal opening 40, along axis 41 from vent 28 to ear canal opening40, and along axis 46 from port opening 32 to ear canal opening 40. Notethat any acoustic opening has a complex impedance, with a resistive(energy dissipating) component and a reactive (non-dissipating)component. When an opening is referred to as resistive, it means thatthe resistive component is dominant.

A front opening and a rear opening radiate sound to the environmentoutside of housing 12 in a manner that can be equated to an acousticdipole. Note that since the driver emits sound from both of its faces,the terms “front” and “rear” are used for convenience only, and thearrangement shown in some of the drawings could be reversed. In otherwords, either side can be arranged to radiate into either of the frontand rear cavities. One dipole would be accomplished by vent 20 and vent28. A second, longer, dipole would be accomplished by vent 20 and portopening 32. An ideal acoustic dipole exhibits a polar response thatconsists of two lobes, with equal radiation forwards and backwards alonga radiation axis, and no radiation perpendicular to the axis.Loudspeaker 10 as a whole exhibits acoustic characteristics of anapproximate dipole, where the effective dipole length or moment is notfixed, i.e., it is variable. The effective length of the dipole can beconsidered to be the distance between the two sound-emitting openingsthat contribute the most to acoustic radiation at any particularfrequency. In the present example, the variability of the dipole lengthis frequency dependent. Thus, housing 12 and openings 20, 28 and 32 areconstructed and arranged such that the effective dipole length ofloudspeaker 10 is frequency dependent. Frequency dependence of avariable-length dipole and its effects on the acoustic performance of aloudspeaker are further described below. The variability of the dipolelength has to do with which vents dominate at what frequencies. At lowfrequencies opening 32 dominates over opening 28, and so the dipolelength is long. At high frequencies, opening 28 dominates (in volumevelocity) over opening 32, and so the dipole spacing is short.

One or more openings on the front side of the transducer and one or moreopenings on the rear side of the transducer create dipole radiation fromthe loudspeaker. When used in an open personal near-field audio system(such as with the present off-ear eyeglass headphones), there areacoustic challenges that are addressed by the variable-length dipoleloudspeakers. Headphones should deliver sufficient SPL to the ear, whileat the same time minimizing spillage to the environment. The variablelength dipole of the present loudspeaker allows the loudspeaker to havea relatively large effective dipole length at low frequencies and asmaller effective dipole length at higher frequencies, with theeffective length relatively smoothly transitioning between the twofrequencies. In the present instance, where the sound source is placednear but not covering an ear, what is desired is high SPL at the ear andlow SPL spilled to bystanders (i.e., low SPL farther from the source).The SPL at the ear is a function of how close the front and back sideopenings of the dipole are to the ear canal. Having one dipole sourceclose to the ear and the other far away causes higher SPL at the ear fora given driver volume displacement. This allows a smaller driver to beused. However, spilled SPL is a function of dipole length, where largerlength leads to more spilled sound. For a headphone, in which the driverneeds to be relatively small, at low frequencies driver displacement isa limiting factor of SPL delivered to the ear. This leads to theconclusion that larger dipole lengths are better at lower frequencies,where spillage is less of a problem because humans are less sensitive tobass frequencies as compared to mid-range frequencies. At higherfrequencies, the dipole length should be smaller.

In off-ear headphones with a single sound-emitting outlet pointedgenerally at the ear, standing waves in the acoustic cavity can causeintermodulation distortion or IMD, particularly at higher sound pressurelevels (SPLs). IMD can be reduced by using two sound-emitting outlets inthe housing. The SPL from one outlet is directed toward the ear, whilethe SPL from the other outlet is directed away from the ear. Having twoopposed outlets in the same acoustic cavity shifts the fundamental frontcavity 16 resonance upward, and thus leads to reduced IMB. IMD reductionin an acoustic cavity is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/647,749, filed on Jul. 12, 2017, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

In some non-limiting examples, one sound-emitting outlet is designed tohave greater equivalent acoustic impedance than the other. When a firstoutlet emits SPL directed toward the ear, and the second outlet isopposed to the first outlet, the second outlet may have a greaterequivalent acoustic impedance than the first outlet. A result is theflow through the second outlet is minimal except around the fundamentalfrequency. This can allow for higher SPL with lower IMB at the ear, aswell as less spilled sound. Note that the loudspeaker could have morethan two sound-emitting outlets in front cavity 16.

Front acoustic cavity 16 in this example includes two sound emittingoutlets or vents 20 and 24. In one non-limiting example, vents 20 and 24are directly opposed such that they emit sound in approximately oppositedirections. This is one non-limiting example of an arrangement of twovents in the front acoustic cavity. In one non-limiting example, outlets20 and 24 are the same size, and the acoustic impedance of outlet 24 isincreased above that of outlet 20 by adding a resistive screen 26 overopening 24. Outlet 24 can be configured to have a greater acousticimpedance than outlet 20 in other ways as well, such as by making outlet24 smaller than outlet 20.

The second sound-emitting outlet 24 can be designed to present either aninertance or a resistance. Generally, it is expected that a resistancewill be a more effective implementation than an inertance. There are aseveral effects to consider in this regard. For one, it is expected thatdamping the cavity resonance is likely to reduce IMD because modulationof a damped resonance is less objectionable than modulation of a sharpresonance. A resistance will help damp the cavity resonance, and aninertance will not (except in the respect that it will have someradiation damping). Also, it is expected that shifting the fundamentalcavity resonance frequency upward will reduce an IMD interaction withthe transducer; both a resistance and inertance can shift the cavityresonance frequency. Further, it is generally desirable to direct soundout of the first sound-emitting outlet 20 toward the ear, especially atlow frequencies, but adding one or more additional sound-emittingoutlets necessarily diverts/reduces the output from the first outlet.There is a balance between reducing IMD and leaving sufficient outputfor the desired purpose of the loudspeaker—delivering sound to the ear.With a resistance in the second outlet, the output from the secondoutlet will have first-order roll-off at low frequencies with respect tothe first outlet. With an inertance in the second outlet, the outputfrom the second outlet will be some constant ratio of the first outletoutput at low frequencies, like a current divider. The roll-offassociated with the resistance is generally preferred. Accordingly,designing the second outlet to exhibit an inertance can likely providesome IMD improvement, but only insomuch as the shifting of the cavityresonance frequency occurs and that frequency is problematic for theloudspeaker. When the second outlet has a resistance the damping of thecavity resonance is likely to help reduce IMD irrespective of thespecific transducer.

Adding the second outlet is effective to decrease IMD. However, eachoutlet contributes to sound emission from the loudspeaker. In the casewhere the outlets have the same areas, sound is emitted equally fromboth outlets. Since one outlet is pointed away from the ear, the secondoutlet reduces the SPL directed toward the ear. This arrangement alsoleads to more sound spillage, which is generally undesirable. Higher SPLat the ear and less spillage can be accomplished if the outlet pointedaway from the ear (e.g., outlet 24) is arranged to have a higherequivalent acoustic impedance than the outlet pointed toward the ear(e.g., outlet 20). The disparate equivalent acoustic impedances of thetwo outlets can be accomplished in any convenient manner. One manner isto cover opening 24 with a resistive screen that increases theequivalent acoustic impedance of the covered opening. This is shown inFIG. 1, where screen 26 covers opening 24, while opening 20 is leftun-screened, or perhaps screened with a screen 22 with much loweracoustic impedance. In one non-limiting example, screen 26 is a 1000 mksrayl polymer screen made by Saati Americas Corp., with a location inFountain Inn, S.C., USA. Opening 20 can be left completely open, or canbe covered by a 6 mks rayl screen, also available from Saati Americas,that provides some water and dust resistance while not substantiallyaltering the acoustic impedance of the opening. Another manner toachieve different equivalent acoustic impedances would be to createopenings with different areas, since impedance is related to area.

FIG. 2 illustrates front-cavity IMD when the second outlet has a highereffective acoustic impedance than the first outlet. In the presentdipole loudspeaker, the front acoustic cavity can be designed tomitigate a modulation distortion that is believed to arise because of anacoustic resonance across the width of the acoustic cavity into whichthe driver radiates. In FIG. 2, the loudspeaker is presumed to have anacoustic resonance of around 5 kHz. When a 5 kHz tone is played in thepresence of lower frequency tones that cause large transducerdisplacement amplitudes, IMD results. In the test for which results arepresented in FIG. 2, the test signal used to develop the data was thesum of two tones—the problematic 5 kHz tone and a typical low frequencyof 160 Hz. The 160 Hz input had an amplitude 20 dB higher than the 5 kHzinput. In an ideal linear system, the output pressure at the mouth of asingle opening in the acoustic cavity would also consist of only thesetwo frequencies. However, the nonlinearities of the acoustic cavitycause the appearance of distortion tones clustered around the 5 kHzoutput tone at intervals of 160 Hz. In FIG. 2 the amplitude of the 5 kHzoutput is taken to be 0 dB.

In a loudspeaker with only a single front cavity outlet (e.g., outlet20, which would typically be pointed at the ear) rather than two opposedoutlets as shown in FIG. 1, there would be a high level of thedistortion products at the distortion frequencies above and below 5 kHz,which may be unacceptable with music content. The acoustic resonance at5 kHz occurs at least in part because of the geometry of the acousticcavity—its particular size and shape. With one outlet opening, thecavity acts something like a quarter-wave resonance, with a pressureamplitude minimum (nearly zero) at the opening, and a maximum at theopposite wall.

When a second opening is created on the opposite side of the cavity(e.g., outlet 24), this second opening essentially eliminates the 5 kHzresonance. Distortion is reduced. Half of the sound exits the secondopening, which reduces low-frequency pressure at the ear, potentially byup to nearly 6 dB. It is believed that any remaining distortion would bedue to system nonlinearities, especially motor force and suspensionstiffness variations with axial voice coil position.

Adding a second outlet in the wall opposite the first opening causesthere to be a pressure minimum at both openings. With two opposedpressure minima, the resonance occurs at roughly twice the 5 kHzfrequency of the original resonance. This higher frequency resonanceleads to some distortion at the higher frequency, but this may not be anoperational problem because the IMB at the higher frequency is likelyminimal.

In the plot 50 of FIG. 2, the second opening 24 is covered with 1000 mksrayl acoustic mesh 26, which increases both output at the primaryopening 20 and also slightly increases distortion. The value of 1000 mksrayl in this case gives a distortion level of around −14 dB at most.Depending on the value of the screen resistance of the second opening,the opening looks more or less like a closed or open wall. But thescreen also adds loss, which damps all resonances. The 1000 mks raylscreen used to create the measurements of FIG. 2 is a large value, mostof the way to being effectively “closed.” If a lower-resistance screenwas used, there would be less loss, making that opening look more“open,” but more of the SPL would leak out through this second opening.

FIG. 3 is a plot of the magnitude of the impedance (Z) v. frequency (f)for the back side of a representative example of the loudspeaker ofFIG. 1. A lower impedance equates to greater outputted volume velocity.At any particular frequency, the output from any or all of the back-sideopenings can contribute to the sound emitted from the loudspeaker.However, at most frequencies the impedance of one of the back-sideopenings will be lower than that of the others, and thus the soundpressure delivered from that opening, as well as the front-side opening,will dominate the loudspeaker output.

At relatively low frequencies, up to frequency f1, the loudspeakerback-side output is dominated by port opening 32, curve 62. Curve 62 canhave a value that is proportional to L/A, where L is the length of port34 and A is the area of port opening 32. Above frequency f1, theloudspeaker back-side output is dominated by screened opening 28, curve66. The impedance (Z) of the screen is constant with frequency. Atfrequency f2, the port and volume resonate which cause the driver cone'smotion to be lessened or stopped, especially when the damping due to thescreen(s) is low. This results in more volume velocity from the backside than the front side (opening 20), and a non-ideal dipole. Abovefrequency f3, the loudspeaker back-side output is still dominated by thescreen, however due to the low impedance of the back-side acousticcavity (curve 64), much of the driver volume velocity is absorbed by thevolume and less comes out the screen. In one exemplary non-limitingexample, frequency f1 can be about 650 Hz, frequency f2 can be about3,050 Hz and frequency f3 can be about 16,000 Hz.

FIG. 4A is a representation 80 of distances and angles for a dipoleloudspeaker of the eyeglass headphones. Nozzle 82 is the dipole openingclosest to the ear, at a distance (nozzle distance “a”) from the ear.The opposite phase opening 84 is located a distance (dipole length “d”)from opening 82, and so “d” is the dipole length. As noted above, thedipole length can be frequency dependent. Theta is the angle (“alignmentangle”) between an axis connecting opening 82 and the ear, and an axisconnecting dipole openings 82 and 84.

FIG. 4B is an exemplary plot illustrating an effect of the dipole lengthand a varied dipole alignment angle (theta) for the dipole loudspeakerrepresented by FIG. 4A. A series of curves are plotted for differentlength ratios (a:d). The SPL at low frequency where dipole length “d” ismuch smaller than the acoustic wavelength is plotted vs. theta. Forexample, 3:1 indicates that the nozzle distance “a” is three timeslarger than the dipole length “d.” These data establish that when thedipole is long and the nozzle is close to the ear (e.g., the 1:3 curve,which would be equivalent in one non-limiting example to a 30 mm dipolewith the nozzle 10 mm from the ear), the alignment angle theta does nothave a big effect on SPL at the ear. For example, a theta of 90 degreesleads to a loss of only about 1 dB. In contrast, when the dipole issmaller or the nozzle is farther from the ear (e.g., the 3:1 curve,which would be equivalent in one non-limiting example to a 15 mm dipolewith the nozzle 45 mm from the ear), theta has a greater effect on SPLat the ear. For example, a theta of only 30 degrees leads to a similarloss of about 1 dB. These data indicate that small misalignments of thedipole axis with the nozzle axis do not have big effects on sounddelivery to the ear. For the present variable length dipole transducer(such as shown in FIG. 1), the short dipole (the resistive opening 28)is more sensitive to alignment than the long dipole (mass port opening32). For example, the shorter dipole (with the resistive opening) can bemisaligned by at least about 40 degrees, while the longer dipole (withthe mass port opening) can be misaligned by up to about 90 degrees. Ifthe alignment of both dipoles is within about 20 degrees from thenozzle-ear axis, there is very little SPL loss. However, to obtainhigher SPL at the ear, it is more important for the nozzle to be closeto the ear than for the dipole to be aligned.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of system 100 comprisingelectronics, an antenna, and a dipole loudspeaker in one temple ofeyeglass headphones. Note that FIG. 5 is schematic and is meant torepresent certain features of the eyeglass headphones, without limitingthe disclosure in any manner. Temple 102 includes posterior end 106 thatsits on ear “E” which has ear canal opening 104. Anterior temple end 108is coupled to a bridge (not shown). Dipole loudspeaker 110 is built intotemple 102 in a manner such that nozzle 118 is close to ear canalopening 104. Note that in some but not all cases there would be a system100 in each of the two temples of the eyeglasses, so that sound isdelivered very close to both ears.

Loudspeaker 110 includes driver 112 that radiates into front volume 114and back volume 116. Front volume 114 includes nozzle vent 118 that isaligned with opening 119 in temple 102, so that sound can escape vianozzle 118. Having the nozzle built into an eyeglass temple allows thenozzle to be located close to and in front of the ear, which allowssound to be best delivered to ear canal opening 104. Temple 102 can be(but need not be) made adjustable in length so that the user can placenozzle 118 in desired proximity to ear canal opening 104. Thisadjustable length feature is schematically depicted by joint 107 thatallows ends 106 and 108 to move relative to one another, closer togetheror farther away. Front volume 114 also includes opposed resistive vent120 that is aligned with opening 121 in temple 102, so that sound canescape via vent 120. Cavity 122 in temple 102 is acoustically coupled toopening 121. Cavity 122 should have enough volume to allow flow throughopening 120, to damp the resonance in front volume 114. Back volume 116includes resistive opening 130 that is aligned with opening 131 intemple 102, so that sound can escape via opening 130. Back volume 116also includes mass port opening 134 at the end of elongated transmissionline cavity or port 136 in temple 102.

Control, amplification, power, and wireless communications (e.g.,Bluetooth low energy or BLE), and other necessary functions, areprovided by electronics 140, which is built into or otherwise carried bytemple 102. Electronics 140 supply audio signals to driver 112, andsupply communication signals to built-in antenna 142. Antenna 142 can belocated in the anterior portion of temple 102 (e.g., close to thebridge), so that its signal is minimally impacted by the wearer's head.In one example, wireless communications can be used to communicate audiosignals from one side (one temple) to the other, in the instance wherethere are loudspeakers in both temples. Power for the loudspeakers canbe provided locally (e.g., with a battery in the temple), or there canbe a single battery and power can be transferred via wiring (not shown)that passes through the bridge or is otherwise transferred from onetemple to the other.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of eyeglass headphones 160, witheyeglass frame 170 shown in a schematic manner as comprising left temple172 and right temple 174 connected by bridge 176 that sits on the noseof head 180. Left system 200 and right system 220 are functionallyidentical in this non-limiting example. System 200 includes dipoleloudspeaker 202 driven by control and amplification module 204. BLE unit208 is electrically coupled to antenna 210, and is functionally coupledto module 204, so that system 200 can both send and receive signalsto/from system 220. Optional microphone 212 can be used to pick up thewearer's voice. Microphone 212 can also be built into temple 172, or canbe located in the bridge, for example at the bottom of the lens so thatit is close to the mouth. The microphone can be arranged on the insideof the temple (i.e., facing the head). This may help shelter themicrophone from wind and external noise, and thus may lead to improvedsignal to noise ratio as compared to locations elsewhere in the templewhere the microphone is more exposed to wind and external noise. Poweris provided to all powered components by power source (e.g.,rechargeable battery) 206. Right temple system 220 includes dipoleloudspeaker 222 driven by control and amplification module 224. BLE unit228 is electrically coupled to antenna 230, and is functionally coupledto module 224, so that system 220 can both send and receive signalsto/from system 200. Optional microphone 232 is also built into temple174, and can be used to pick up the wearer's voice. The microphone canbe arranged on the inside of the temple (i.e., facing the head). Thishelps shelter the microphone from wind and external noise, and thus islikely to have better voice pickup than the microphones in manyheadphones. Power is provided to all powered components by power source(e.g., rechargeable battery) 226.

FIG. 7 is a front, perspective view of eyeglass headphones 250. In thisnon-limiting example there is an eyeglass bridge 300 that is constructedand arranged to sit on the nose, with lenses 301 and 302 in front of theeyes. Right temple 260 is coupled to bridge 300 and extends over theright ear. Left temple 280 is coupled to bridge 300 and extends over theleft ear. Each temple comprises a dipole loudspeaker, as is furtherexplained below. Visible in this view are rear high-frequency dipoleopening 272 (which equates to opening 28, FIG. 1), rear low-frequencydipole opening 274 (which equates to opening 32, FIG. 1), and rearresonance damping opening 273 (which equates to opening 36, FIG. 1). Anyor all of these three openings can be covered by a screen, as describedabove relative to FIG. 1. The screen covering opening 273 is preferablyresistive, to accomplish waveguide resonance damping, as describedabove. Note that in this example the left temple 280 has a dipoletransducer that is the same as that disclosed herein for the righttemple.

FIG. 8A is a partial side view of part of the right temple 260 of theeyeglass headphones of FIG. 7. Anterior end 263 is constructed andarranged to be coupled to the bridge, in any manner known in the art.Posterior end 265 will sit on/behind the ear. Middle portion 262 betweenthe two ends holds the dipole loudspeaker (which comprises cavity 270and its openings, as further explained below), and also holdselectronics (not shown) that are involved in (among other functions, asdescribed elsewhere) wirelessly receiving audio signals, and anyprocessing required to provide the audio signals to the driver locatedin cavity 270. These electronics may be (but need not be) located behindremovable cover 264.

Cavity 270 comprises generally cylindrical cavity portion 281, which isarranged to hold a driver (not shown), and also define parts of thefront driver volume or cavity 276. Cavity 281 also defines part of reardriver volume or cavity 277. Opening 272 communicates with rear cavity277 and acts as one rear opening of the dipole. The second rear openingof the dipole is defined by opening 274, which also communicates withcavity 277. Opening 273, which also communicates with cavity 277, isinvolved in damping of standing waves in cavity 277. Slot or vent 271communicates with front cavity 276 and acts as the nozzle (or, frontside vent) that is arranged to deliver sound to the right ear of theuser/wearer.

FIG. 8B is a view similar to that of FIG. 8A, but including the acousticdriver 275 located in cavity 281, and showing a cover 279 that isremovably coupled to temple 260 so as to cover and close cavity 270(except for the openings described above). One side (the front side inthis non-limiting example) of driver 275 radiates into front cavity 276.Sound escapes from cavity 276 via front vent 271, which is typicallylocated in front of and a short distance from the entrance to the earcanal.

FIG. 9 is a cross-section taken along line 9-9, FIG. 8A, but includingthe driver 275 shown in FIG. 8B. Front cavity 276 is in one non-limitingexample preferably very small in volume, and therefore may have adiameter about the same size as the diameter of driver 275 and a veryshallow depth, as shown. The front cavity can be but need not begenerally cylindrical in shape. In one non-limiting example, frontcavity 276 is generally trapezoidal in cross-section, as shown, suchthat the end 276 a that is opposite the nozzle end 276 b that isadjacent the nozzle 271 is narrower than the nozzle end, which should bewide enough to accommodate the nozzle opening.

FIG. 10 is an exploded rear perspective view of the bridge and righttemple of the eyeglass headphones of FIG. 7. Bridge 300 has slot 302that extends across the full width of the bridge (in this non-limitingexample, in the portion above the lenses), and accommodates flex circuit304 that is located in the slot. Cover 306 can protect and conceal theflex circuit. Flex circuit 304 has ends 310 and 308 that areelectrically coupled to small circuit boards that are located in thetemples. There would be one board (not shown) in cavity 265 of righttemple 260. Cover 264 (FIGS. 8A and 9) conceals and protects the board.The board could carry electronics and a battery power source foroperation of the headphones. Also, a wireless antenna could be locatedon the board or elsewhere in cavity 265. The antenna can be used forBluetooth reception of audio signals from a Bluetooth source. Any otherwireless communication standards could be used. Also, if a secondantenna is placed similarly at the anterior end of the left temple, thetwo antennas can communicate over a line-of-sight path, with littleinterference from the user's head. This would provide an advantage overlocation of antennas farther back in the temples, where the head wouldinterfere with line-of-sight signal transmission. Also, antennas couldbe used to transmit audio signals from one side to the other (e.g.,using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), in which case the headphones couldinclude only one audio source receiver. This would simplify thecircuitry and lower its cost. In any case, it is contemplated that abattery power source for the headphones would likely be located in onlyone temple, and power (and control signals) can be routed from onetemple to the other over flex circuit 304.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that additional modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the inventive concepts described herein,and, accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An audio system that is configured to be coupledto an eyeglass frame that is configured to be worn on the head of awearer, the frame comprising a bridge that is configured to be supportedby the wearer's nose, and a left temple piece and a right temple piecethat each extend rearwardly from the bridge toward the left and rightears of the wearer, respectively, the system comprising: a housing thatdefines a sound-emitting opening, wherein a location of the housingrelative to an ear canal opening of a user is adjustable by the user;and a loudspeaker located in the housing and configured to generatesound that leaves the housing through the sound-emitting opening.
 2. Theaudio system of claim 1, wherein the audio system is integrated into atemple piece of the eyeglass frame.
 3. The audio system of claim 1,configured such that a user can locate the sound-emitting openingrelative to the user's ear canal opening.
 4. The audio system of claim1, wherein a location of the sound-emitting opening relative to theuser's ear canal opening is variable.
 5. The audio system of claim 1,configured to be coupled to a temple piece of the eyeglass frame.
 6. Theaudio system of claim 1, wherein the left temple piece and the righttemple piece of the eyeglass frame each have a distal end spaced fromthe bridge, and wherein a location of the sound-emitting openingrelative to the distal end of a temple piece is variable.
 7. The audiosystem of claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker comprises an audio driverthat emits front-side acoustic radiation from its front side and into afront cavity of the housing and emits rear-side acoustic radiation fromits rear side into a rear cavity of the housing.
 8. The audio system ofclaim 7, wherein the front cavity is fully defined by the front side ofthe driver, a first wall of the housing located directly opposite thefront side of the driver, and a second wall of the housing that extendsaround the driver.
 9. The audio system of claim 8, wherein thesound-emitting opening is in the second wall of the housing and isconfigured to emit front-side acoustic radiation directly from the frontcavity into the environment.
 10. The audio system of claim 9, furthercomprising a second sound-emitting opening that is configured to emitrear-side acoustic radiation from the housing.
 11. The audio system ofclaim 1, further comprising electronic circuitry that is arranged towirelessly transmit or receive audio signals that are played by theloudspeaker.
 12. The audio system of claim 11, wherein the electroniccircuitry comprises an antenna.
 13. The audio system of claim 1, furthercomprising a microphone.
 14. The audio system of claim 1, wherein thehousing defines first and second sound-emitting openings.
 15. The audiosystem of claim 14, wherein the loudspeaker comprises an audio driverthat emits front-side acoustic radiation from its front side andrear-side acoustic radiation from its rear side, and wherein front-sideacoustic radiation is emitted into the environment from the firstsound-emitting opening and rear-side acoustic radiation is emitted intothe environment from the second sound-emitting opening.
 16. The audiosystem of claim 1, wherein at least part of the housing is configured tobe removably coupled to a temple piece of the eyeglass frame.
 17. Anaudio system that is configured to be coupled to an eyeglass frame thatis configured to be worn on the head of a wearer, the frame comprising abridge that is configured to be supported by the wearer's nose, and aleft temple piece and a right temple piece that each extend rearwardlyfrom the bridge toward the left and right ears of the wearer,respectively, and each have a distal end spaced from the bridge, thesystem comprising: a housing that defines a sound-emitting opening,wherein a location of the sound-emitting opening relative to the distalend of a temple piece of the eyeglass frame is variable; and aloudspeaker located in the housing and configured to generate sound thatleaves the housing through the sound-emitting opening.
 18. The audiosystem of claim 17, wherein at least part of the housing is configuredto be removably coupled to a temple piece of the eyeglass frame.
 19. Theaudio system of claim 17, wherein the audio system is integrated into atemple piece of the eyeglass frame.
 20. The audio system of claim 17,configured such that a user can locate the sound-emitting openingrelative to the user's ear canal opening.